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, ' r . '
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 19334
HITT & LOWRY ST.
COLUMBIA, MO. 65201 '
vfetarf
, See Sports, Page 6
7Uth Year - No. 279 (; oml Morning! It Saturday, August 12, 1 978 1 4 Pages - 1 5 Cents
Petri dish
birth raises
questions
Moral problems
cloud breakthrough
By Walter Sullivan
N. Y. Times Service
NEW YORK Louise Joy Brown,
from all appearances an average,
bright- eye- d baby who was born less
than a month ago in a British hospital,
has brought' into- th- e world ethical and
medical issues that those concerned
with the sanctity of life and conjugal
love have never had to confront before.
She was conceived in a petri dish, the
glassware used for culturing bacteria
and other cells. In that dish an egg cell
removed from her mother was fer-tilized
by sperm from her father. She is
not, as widely reported, a " test tube
baby." She is a petri dish baby.
' While the achievement was hailed as
a medical triumph, it also evoked some
grave misgivings. One member of
Parliament saw it as opening up
" Hitlerian" possibilities. Wealthy
women, or those determined not to
interrupt a career, could have their
babies gestated by other women.
Embryos fertilized in the laboratory
could be screened to select only those of
the desired sex.
In the United States, research on " in
vitro'.' ( in glassware) fertilization has
been in abeyance for the past three
, Insight
years pending a recommendation en its
propriety by the newly formed Ethics
Advisory Board of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare.
The board is to meet Sept 15 and 16 to
consider an application from Van- derb- ilt
University to conduct such
research.
It is estimated that a million
American women are, have been or will
be unable to bear children because of
defects in the tiny tubes that carry the
mature egg cell from the ovary to the
uterus, a journey in which the egg is
fertilized. Some defects can be
corrected by surgery; the estimates
range from 17 to 50 percent
For the past dozen years two Britons
have been seeking to perfect a
technique enabling women for whom
surgery was of no avail to bear
children. One is Dr. Robert G. Edwards
of Cambridge University, a specialist in
reproductive physiology; the other, Dr.
Patrick C. Steptoe, a gynecologist.
Steptoe has developed a technique
whereby an almost mature egg cell can
be removed from the ovary, using a
device that enters the abdomen through
a very small incision. One role of
Edwards has been to use hormone
injections to control the timing of egg
cell production and to prepare the
uterus to receive the fertilized egg cell,
or embryo.
This last step proved the most
stubborn obstacle. As early as 1969 the
two men had achieved in vitro fer-tilization,
using a special medium to
" capacitate" the sperm. Another
culture " broth" then stimulated growth
of the embryo to a multicelled stage
comparable to that normally reached
by the embryo when it enters the womb
or uterus.
Catholic churchmen have taken their
cue from past opposition to artificial
insemination, particularly in cases
where the husband is impotent and
sperm from an anonymous donor is
used.
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev.
' Pierfranco Pastore, expressed his
personal misgivings. " Fecundation,"
he said, " must be carried out according
to nature and through reciprocal and
responsible love between a man and
woman."
Opponents also cite the destruction of
embryos in the Steptoe- Edwar- ds
procedure. Only embryos that, under
microscopic examination, appear to be
developing normally are blown into the
womb by way of a tube inserted through
the cervix.
And critics are not impressed by the
argument that nature screens embryos
in the womb, although it is estimated
that many embryos some
gynecologists believe more than half .
( See DEFECTIVE, Page 9)
A ramblin' wrecker tells all About 4,000 people
crowded into Colu-mbia's
fairgrounds
recently to watch
battered jalopies bash
into one another.
Sunday's Vibrations
visits on the of the
drivers who competed
in Columbia's first
demolition derby.
VATICAN CITY ( UPI) Pope Paul
VI, in a handwritten last will published
Friday, asked only for a " simple
funeral . . . some prayers so that God
will be merciful to me."
But the College of Cardinals ignored
the pope's request and went ahead with
preparations for the largest funeral in
the history of the church an open- a- ir
Mass in St Peter's Square celebrated
by all princes of the church in Rome
and attended by an estimated 250,000
pilgrims.
The pope's last will left all his worldly
possessions to the church with in-structions
to his longtime friend,
confidant and private secretary, " dear
Don Pasquale," to distribute alms to
the poor.
Paul gave " the blessing of the dying
pope" to the nearly 700 million souls he
shepherded through 15 years of his
pontificate and in a final papal
exhortation urged the Roman Catholic
Church not to walk in the ways of the
world.
Publication of the pope's last will the
day before his funeral Saturday the
largest in church history came as
pilgrims, tourists and mourners walked
several abreast past the open bier at
the rate of 400 a minute to pay final
homage to the Roman Catolic pontiff
who died at his summer retreat last
Sunday.
Vatican officials estimated 160,000 to
180,000 people had viewed the pontiffs
body Thursday and said they might
open St Peter's basilica Saturday
morning so all who wanted could pay
their final respects.
Security officials assembled an army
of more than 7,000 uniformed and
See related stories, Page 3
plainclothes police, including sharp-shooters
in helicopters the largest
ever assembled in Rome to watch
over the funeral and the many world
Sdiagtunritdaaryie. s r attending the funeral
The basilica will be closed at 2 p. m. ( 8
a. m. EST) so the pope's body can be
placed in a closed coffin for the funeral
Mass outside in St. Peter's Square four
hours later, the Vatican said.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy ( D- Mas- s.) and
New York Gov. Hugh Carey headed the
UJS. delegation at the funeral. Mrs.
Carter eulogized the pope on her arrival
as the " symbol of goodness of
mankind."
In his will, the pope thanked God, his
parents and his friends for all the good
things he experienced in his life and
said: " To faithful and militant
Catholics, to the young, to the suffering,
to those searching for truth and justice,
to them all ( goes) the blessing of the
dying pope."
The will, which was written on June
30, 1965 the second anniversary of his
coronation with addendums in 1972
and 1973, asked that " my notebooks,
correspondence and personal writings
should be destroyed." In one of the
additions, the pope specified they
should be burned.
" I do not wish a special tomb nor any
monument," Pope Paul said in his
neatly handwritten will. He made an
unfulfilled request that the bier on
which popes normally lie on state be
( See POPE, Page 14)
i
An advance man places the Presidential Seal on the podium in the Hearnes Center Friday
Farm policy to be Carter9 topic
By Lari Newman and Pong Coffey
Missourian staff writers
A group of mid- America- ns with a
deep interest in farming will greet
President Carter at the University's
Hearnes Center . when the chief
executive speaks Monday at 11 a. m. to
me annual Midcontinent Farmers
Association Convention.
Jack Hackethorn, director of public
relations for MFA, said the convention
will begin at 9: 45 a. m., and that
delegates from Missouri, Iowa, Kansas,
Nebraska and Arkansas will compose
most of the crowd, with a few delegates
from other states. In addition, 350
reporters and photographers will be on
hand to record the event
First Lady Rosalynn Carter does not
plan to attend the convention.
The president is expected to talk on
the White House farm policy.
" He had a speech he wanted to give,
Fm sure, and he' thought this was a
good audience to give it to,"
Hackethorn said, adding the president
was responding to an invitation ex-tended
him by MFA.
Hackethorn said there are 9,000 to
10,000 seats available for the
president's speech, but he urged all
convention delegates to arrive early.
David Thomas, vice president for
member relations of MFA, said all
delegates are asked to be in their seats
by 10: 15 a. m. At this time a decision
will be made as to how many other
persons can be admitted.
Rick Moore, a White House press
advance man, said seats remaining
empty will be filled by the general
public. " It will be on a first- com- e, first- serv- e
basis," Moore said.
Thomas said MFA is expecting a
large crowd to attend the speech, ad-ding
there is even a waiting list of
persons who want to attend.
Hackethorn said Gov. Joseph
Teasdale and Secretary of Agriculture
Robert Bergland will be present at the
president's speech, along with the
entire Missouri congressional
delegation except Rep. William Clay,
D- S- t. Louis, who has a speaking
engagement.
Delegates and alternates for the
convention were elected by their local
groups, Hackethorn said.
Two parking lots, located south and
east of the center and designated SG4
and SG6 will be available for the public
( See PUBLIC, Page 14)
In towia
today
8: 30 a. m. Missouri National
Organization of Women con-ference,
Howard Johnson's
Motor Inn.
7: 30 p. m. " Dear Liar,"
Maplewood Barn' Theater,
Stephens College Warehouse.
' 7: 30 p. m. " 110 in the Shade,"
Maplewood Barn Theater, Nifong
Park.
8: 15 p. m. " No Time for
Comedy," Arrow Rock Lyceum
Theater.
Live coverage is planned
KBIA radio and KOMU television, in
conjunction with the University School
of Journalism and the Academic
Support Center, will broadcast
President Carter's speech live from the
Hearnes Center Monday at 11 a. m.
Dick Nelson, anchorman for Channel
8' s 6 p. m. news broadcast and in-structor
at the School of Journalism,
and Rod Gelatt, news director of KBIA
and professor at the School of Jour--
nalism, will cover the speech.
KBIA will initiate the National Public
Radio broadcast of the event, which
will be aired across the country on a
delayed basis, Gelatt said Friday.
Nelson said most of the equipment
and crews for the live coverage of
Carter's speech will be provided by the
Academic Support Center, but that one
" mini- cam-" would be operated by a
journalism student
Eamings tax plan examined
, Should the city of Columbia institute an earnings tax? The
question isn't a new one, but it made headlines once again when
it was proposed at this week's dry council meeting. Sunday's
Missourian takes a look at the advantages and disadvantages of
. such a program and the other implications such a tax will mean
j both to the city and to the citizen.
" H" JLjoflOOH. 3. He
disease test
developed
N. Y. Times Service
NEW YORK Government scien-tists
have developed the first test that
can detect Legionnaires' disease
bacteria in the environment and have
found the microbe growing in the water
of an air conditioning system in a
Bloomington, Ind., hotel where 19
victims of the disease stayed overnight.
The test, announced Thursday by the
Federal Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta, provides health researchers
with their first method of learning
where the organism lives when it is not
infecting people.
Scientists hope that by identifying
environmental sources of the bacteria,
it will be possible to eliminate the
organisms from the sources and
I prevent future outbreaks.
I CDC officials said their technicians
were now chemically treating the water
in the Bloomington air conditioning
J cooling tower to kill the bacteria.
Legionnaires' disease received its
name following a 1976 outbreak in
Philadelphia when 29 American Legion
members attending a convention died
and 151 others were sickened. CDC
researchers subsequently isolated the
previously unknown organism from
victims' tissues and found it to be the
same microbe that felled many others
in several previous and subsequent
outbreaks around the country.
Dr. David Fraser, who has led a
continuing CDC investigation of
Legionnaires' disease, said researchers
had to develop an extremely com-plicated
series of procedures for
isolating the bacteria from other
microbial species that grow faster and
obscure its presence.
So far the test has only been used in
the Bloomington outbreak. In that
instance at least 21 cases, three of them
fatal, had been recorded between May
of 1977 and May of 1978. Of these, 19
victims had stayed at the Indiana
Memorial Union, a student union- hot- el
complex on the campus of Indiana
University, within the two weeks before
they fell ill.
Legionnaires' disease bacteria were
found to be living in the hotel's air
conditioning cooling tower and in a
small river flowing nearby. Resear- cher- s
working on the disease have
generally agreed that the organism
must have been transmitted through
the air.
Propane tanks near reactor cause concern
ByDebby Graham
Missourian staff writer
A federal safety inspection agency
expressed concern Friday over the
placement of nearly 20 propane gas
tanks near the work site of the
University Research Reactor.
However, local officials, said the
situation was safe.
Friday afternoon on the north side of
the reactor parking lot, workmen were
using 29 full and empty propane gas
containers some of which were in
close proximity to moving traffic in the
lot
The tanks were placed there by the
Young Sales Corp. which is reroofing
the reactor, located south of Stadium
Boulevard on Providence Road. The
propane gas is used to heat the tar
which covers the roof.
Dr. Robert Brugger, reactor director,
says the tanks are " relatively safe" in
the parking lot. The tanks are " no more
dangerous man driving a car with gas
in it and living in a home with natural
gas." He said the position of the
propane tanks did not pose any danger
to the reactor.
However, a spokesman for the Oc-cupational
Safety and Health Ad--
ministration ( OSHA) said there are
specific regulations regarding the use
of propane gas tanks. He cited several
regulations that the present location
and position of the tanks violate.
According to the OSHA spokeman,
the tanks:
k-- Should not be exposed to sunlight.
v Should be located away from
grass, weeds, or other easily com-bustible
materials.
Should be chained securely in an
upright position.
J. S. Royer, president of Young Sales
Corp., said it was " ridiculous" to try to
protect the tanks from sunlight. He did
express concern over the rest of the
conditions. " I don't condone that at
all . . . we've got some green men down
there." Royer said the new men might
not be aware of the regulations con-cerning
the gas tanks. '
University Police Chief Ron Mason
said the fire department had approved
the tanks at their present location. He
said the OSHA standards applied only
to full tanks and -- that the tanks at the
reactor were empty.
University police were seen .
removing some of the tanks after The
Missourian brought the matter to the
department's attention.

, ' r . '
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 19334
HITT & LOWRY ST.
COLUMBIA, MO. 65201 '
vfetarf
, See Sports, Page 6
7Uth Year - No. 279 (; oml Morning! It Saturday, August 12, 1 978 1 4 Pages - 1 5 Cents
Petri dish
birth raises
questions
Moral problems
cloud breakthrough
By Walter Sullivan
N. Y. Times Service
NEW YORK Louise Joy Brown,
from all appearances an average,
bright- eye- d baby who was born less
than a month ago in a British hospital,
has brought' into- th- e world ethical and
medical issues that those concerned
with the sanctity of life and conjugal
love have never had to confront before.
She was conceived in a petri dish, the
glassware used for culturing bacteria
and other cells. In that dish an egg cell
removed from her mother was fer-tilized
by sperm from her father. She is
not, as widely reported, a " test tube
baby." She is a petri dish baby.
' While the achievement was hailed as
a medical triumph, it also evoked some
grave misgivings. One member of
Parliament saw it as opening up
" Hitlerian" possibilities. Wealthy
women, or those determined not to
interrupt a career, could have their
babies gestated by other women.
Embryos fertilized in the laboratory
could be screened to select only those of
the desired sex.
In the United States, research on " in
vitro'.' ( in glassware) fertilization has
been in abeyance for the past three
, Insight
years pending a recommendation en its
propriety by the newly formed Ethics
Advisory Board of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare.
The board is to meet Sept 15 and 16 to
consider an application from Van- derb- ilt
University to conduct such
research.
It is estimated that a million
American women are, have been or will
be unable to bear children because of
defects in the tiny tubes that carry the
mature egg cell from the ovary to the
uterus, a journey in which the egg is
fertilized. Some defects can be
corrected by surgery; the estimates
range from 17 to 50 percent
For the past dozen years two Britons
have been seeking to perfect a
technique enabling women for whom
surgery was of no avail to bear
children. One is Dr. Robert G. Edwards
of Cambridge University, a specialist in
reproductive physiology; the other, Dr.
Patrick C. Steptoe, a gynecologist.
Steptoe has developed a technique
whereby an almost mature egg cell can
be removed from the ovary, using a
device that enters the abdomen through
a very small incision. One role of
Edwards has been to use hormone
injections to control the timing of egg
cell production and to prepare the
uterus to receive the fertilized egg cell,
or embryo.
This last step proved the most
stubborn obstacle. As early as 1969 the
two men had achieved in vitro fer-tilization,
using a special medium to
" capacitate" the sperm. Another
culture " broth" then stimulated growth
of the embryo to a multicelled stage
comparable to that normally reached
by the embryo when it enters the womb
or uterus.
Catholic churchmen have taken their
cue from past opposition to artificial
insemination, particularly in cases
where the husband is impotent and
sperm from an anonymous donor is
used.
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev.
' Pierfranco Pastore, expressed his
personal misgivings. " Fecundation,"
he said, " must be carried out according
to nature and through reciprocal and
responsible love between a man and
woman."
Opponents also cite the destruction of
embryos in the Steptoe- Edwar- ds
procedure. Only embryos that, under
microscopic examination, appear to be
developing normally are blown into the
womb by way of a tube inserted through
the cervix.
And critics are not impressed by the
argument that nature screens embryos
in the womb, although it is estimated
that many embryos some
gynecologists believe more than half .
( See DEFECTIVE, Page 9)
A ramblin' wrecker tells all About 4,000 people
crowded into Colu-mbia's
fairgrounds
recently to watch
battered jalopies bash
into one another.
Sunday's Vibrations
visits on the of the
drivers who competed
in Columbia's first
demolition derby.
VATICAN CITY ( UPI) Pope Paul
VI, in a handwritten last will published
Friday, asked only for a " simple
funeral . . . some prayers so that God
will be merciful to me."
But the College of Cardinals ignored
the pope's request and went ahead with
preparations for the largest funeral in
the history of the church an open- a- ir
Mass in St Peter's Square celebrated
by all princes of the church in Rome
and attended by an estimated 250,000
pilgrims.
The pope's last will left all his worldly
possessions to the church with in-structions
to his longtime friend,
confidant and private secretary, " dear
Don Pasquale," to distribute alms to
the poor.
Paul gave " the blessing of the dying
pope" to the nearly 700 million souls he
shepherded through 15 years of his
pontificate and in a final papal
exhortation urged the Roman Catholic
Church not to walk in the ways of the
world.
Publication of the pope's last will the
day before his funeral Saturday the
largest in church history came as
pilgrims, tourists and mourners walked
several abreast past the open bier at
the rate of 400 a minute to pay final
homage to the Roman Catolic pontiff
who died at his summer retreat last
Sunday.
Vatican officials estimated 160,000 to
180,000 people had viewed the pontiffs
body Thursday and said they might
open St Peter's basilica Saturday
morning so all who wanted could pay
their final respects.
Security officials assembled an army
of more than 7,000 uniformed and
See related stories, Page 3
plainclothes police, including sharp-shooters
in helicopters the largest
ever assembled in Rome to watch
over the funeral and the many world
Sdiagtunritdaaryie. s r attending the funeral
The basilica will be closed at 2 p. m. ( 8
a. m. EST) so the pope's body can be
placed in a closed coffin for the funeral
Mass outside in St. Peter's Square four
hours later, the Vatican said.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy ( D- Mas- s.) and
New York Gov. Hugh Carey headed the
UJS. delegation at the funeral. Mrs.
Carter eulogized the pope on her arrival
as the " symbol of goodness of
mankind."
In his will, the pope thanked God, his
parents and his friends for all the good
things he experienced in his life and
said: " To faithful and militant
Catholics, to the young, to the suffering,
to those searching for truth and justice,
to them all ( goes) the blessing of the
dying pope."
The will, which was written on June
30, 1965 the second anniversary of his
coronation with addendums in 1972
and 1973, asked that " my notebooks,
correspondence and personal writings
should be destroyed." In one of the
additions, the pope specified they
should be burned.
" I do not wish a special tomb nor any
monument," Pope Paul said in his
neatly handwritten will. He made an
unfulfilled request that the bier on
which popes normally lie on state be
( See POPE, Page 14)
i
An advance man places the Presidential Seal on the podium in the Hearnes Center Friday
Farm policy to be Carter9 topic
By Lari Newman and Pong Coffey
Missourian staff writers
A group of mid- America- ns with a
deep interest in farming will greet
President Carter at the University's
Hearnes Center . when the chief
executive speaks Monday at 11 a. m. to
me annual Midcontinent Farmers
Association Convention.
Jack Hackethorn, director of public
relations for MFA, said the convention
will begin at 9: 45 a. m., and that
delegates from Missouri, Iowa, Kansas,
Nebraska and Arkansas will compose
most of the crowd, with a few delegates
from other states. In addition, 350
reporters and photographers will be on
hand to record the event
First Lady Rosalynn Carter does not
plan to attend the convention.
The president is expected to talk on
the White House farm policy.
" He had a speech he wanted to give,
Fm sure, and he' thought this was a
good audience to give it to,"
Hackethorn said, adding the president
was responding to an invitation ex-tended
him by MFA.
Hackethorn said there are 9,000 to
10,000 seats available for the
president's speech, but he urged all
convention delegates to arrive early.
David Thomas, vice president for
member relations of MFA, said all
delegates are asked to be in their seats
by 10: 15 a. m. At this time a decision
will be made as to how many other
persons can be admitted.
Rick Moore, a White House press
advance man, said seats remaining
empty will be filled by the general
public. " It will be on a first- com- e, first- serv- e
basis," Moore said.
Thomas said MFA is expecting a
large crowd to attend the speech, ad-ding
there is even a waiting list of
persons who want to attend.
Hackethorn said Gov. Joseph
Teasdale and Secretary of Agriculture
Robert Bergland will be present at the
president's speech, along with the
entire Missouri congressional
delegation except Rep. William Clay,
D- S- t. Louis, who has a speaking
engagement.
Delegates and alternates for the
convention were elected by their local
groups, Hackethorn said.
Two parking lots, located south and
east of the center and designated SG4
and SG6 will be available for the public
( See PUBLIC, Page 14)
In towia
today
8: 30 a. m. Missouri National
Organization of Women con-ference,
Howard Johnson's
Motor Inn.
7: 30 p. m. " Dear Liar,"
Maplewood Barn' Theater,
Stephens College Warehouse.
' 7: 30 p. m. " 110 in the Shade,"
Maplewood Barn Theater, Nifong
Park.
8: 15 p. m. " No Time for
Comedy," Arrow Rock Lyceum
Theater.
Live coverage is planned
KBIA radio and KOMU television, in
conjunction with the University School
of Journalism and the Academic
Support Center, will broadcast
President Carter's speech live from the
Hearnes Center Monday at 11 a. m.
Dick Nelson, anchorman for Channel
8' s 6 p. m. news broadcast and in-structor
at the School of Journalism,
and Rod Gelatt, news director of KBIA
and professor at the School of Jour--
nalism, will cover the speech.
KBIA will initiate the National Public
Radio broadcast of the event, which
will be aired across the country on a
delayed basis, Gelatt said Friday.
Nelson said most of the equipment
and crews for the live coverage of
Carter's speech will be provided by the
Academic Support Center, but that one
" mini- cam-" would be operated by a
journalism student
Eamings tax plan examined
, Should the city of Columbia institute an earnings tax? The
question isn't a new one, but it made headlines once again when
it was proposed at this week's dry council meeting. Sunday's
Missourian takes a look at the advantages and disadvantages of
. such a program and the other implications such a tax will mean
j both to the city and to the citizen.
" H" JLjoflOOH. 3. He
disease test
developed
N. Y. Times Service
NEW YORK Government scien-tists
have developed the first test that
can detect Legionnaires' disease
bacteria in the environment and have
found the microbe growing in the water
of an air conditioning system in a
Bloomington, Ind., hotel where 19
victims of the disease stayed overnight.
The test, announced Thursday by the
Federal Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta, provides health researchers
with their first method of learning
where the organism lives when it is not
infecting people.
Scientists hope that by identifying
environmental sources of the bacteria,
it will be possible to eliminate the
organisms from the sources and
I prevent future outbreaks.
I CDC officials said their technicians
were now chemically treating the water
in the Bloomington air conditioning
J cooling tower to kill the bacteria.
Legionnaires' disease received its
name following a 1976 outbreak in
Philadelphia when 29 American Legion
members attending a convention died
and 151 others were sickened. CDC
researchers subsequently isolated the
previously unknown organism from
victims' tissues and found it to be the
same microbe that felled many others
in several previous and subsequent
outbreaks around the country.
Dr. David Fraser, who has led a
continuing CDC investigation of
Legionnaires' disease, said researchers
had to develop an extremely com-plicated
series of procedures for
isolating the bacteria from other
microbial species that grow faster and
obscure its presence.
So far the test has only been used in
the Bloomington outbreak. In that
instance at least 21 cases, three of them
fatal, had been recorded between May
of 1977 and May of 1978. Of these, 19
victims had stayed at the Indiana
Memorial Union, a student union- hot- el
complex on the campus of Indiana
University, within the two weeks before
they fell ill.
Legionnaires' disease bacteria were
found to be living in the hotel's air
conditioning cooling tower and in a
small river flowing nearby. Resear- cher- s
working on the disease have
generally agreed that the organism
must have been transmitted through
the air.
Propane tanks near reactor cause concern
ByDebby Graham
Missourian staff writer
A federal safety inspection agency
expressed concern Friday over the
placement of nearly 20 propane gas
tanks near the work site of the
University Research Reactor.
However, local officials, said the
situation was safe.
Friday afternoon on the north side of
the reactor parking lot, workmen were
using 29 full and empty propane gas
containers some of which were in
close proximity to moving traffic in the
lot
The tanks were placed there by the
Young Sales Corp. which is reroofing
the reactor, located south of Stadium
Boulevard on Providence Road. The
propane gas is used to heat the tar
which covers the roof.
Dr. Robert Brugger, reactor director,
says the tanks are " relatively safe" in
the parking lot. The tanks are " no more
dangerous man driving a car with gas
in it and living in a home with natural
gas." He said the position of the
propane tanks did not pose any danger
to the reactor.
However, a spokesman for the Oc-cupational
Safety and Health Ad--
ministration ( OSHA) said there are
specific regulations regarding the use
of propane gas tanks. He cited several
regulations that the present location
and position of the tanks violate.
According to the OSHA spokeman,
the tanks:
k-- Should not be exposed to sunlight.
v Should be located away from
grass, weeds, or other easily com-bustible
materials.
Should be chained securely in an
upright position.
J. S. Royer, president of Young Sales
Corp., said it was " ridiculous" to try to
protect the tanks from sunlight. He did
express concern over the rest of the
conditions. " I don't condone that at
all . . . we've got some green men down
there." Royer said the new men might
not be aware of the regulations con-cerning
the gas tanks. '
University Police Chief Ron Mason
said the fire department had approved
the tanks at their present location. He
said the OSHA standards applied only
to full tanks and -- that the tanks at the
reactor were empty.
University police were seen .
removing some of the tanks after The
Missourian brought the matter to the
department's attention.